Automatically generating embroidery designs from a scanned image

ABSTRACT

A method and system are disclosed for automatically generating embroidery designs from a scanned image. A described method of generating embroidery data from image data includes identifying an object from the image data, wherein the object corresponds to a contiguous portion of an image defined by the image data. The described method further includes determining a plurality of possible stitch angles for the object and determining respective numbers of fragments required to stitch the object for each of the possible stitch angles. The method further includes selecting a stitch angle from the plurality of possible stitch angles, wherein the selected stitch angle is to result in a least number of fragments to stitch the object, and generating the embroidery data based on the selected stitch angle.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/806,880, filed on Mar. 23, 2004, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,587,256, whichis a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/950,521, filedon Sep. 10, 2001, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,804,573, which is a continuationof U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/134,981, filed on Aug. 17, 1998,now U.S. Pat. No. 6,836,695, the entireties of which are herebyincorporated by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention pertains to the field of embroidery stitching.More specifically, the present invention relates to automatic generationof embroidery designs.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The needle and thread were the early sewing tools needed for mending andrepairing damaged clothing. It was then discovered that the needle couldbe used as an artistic tool to stitch patterns of thread that displayedcolorful designs. This patterning of thread into designs has becomeknown as the art of embroidery. Over time, embroidery designs have beendisplayed on various items ranging in size and complexity from simplehandkerchiefs to shirts and quilts.

Just as the sewing machine has automated the task of sewing, variousmechanisms have been used to automate the art of embroidery. Forexample, it has become known that a computer can be used to assist oraid in the generation of embroidery designs. Typically an embroiderydesign is recreated from a pattern that is displayed on paper. However,when a computer is used to create an embroidery design, many factorsmust be considered in order to produce an accurate interpretation of thepattern. Factors such as color contrast, line thickness and generalobject recognition, which are easily identifiable by the human eye aresometimes not easily interpreted by a computer.

Currently, embroidery may be produced using a motorized sewing mechanismcombined with a synchronized movable frame that holds material to beembroidered underneath the sewing needle. Specifically, as the sewingneedle is moved up and down, the movable frame may be precisely shiftedin x,y coordinate space via two stepping motors that are directed by aspecial purpose microcontroller. Thus, the length and direction of eachstitch is specified by the x,y position of the frame at the time each ofthe two needle penetrations that compose the stitch are made. In thisway, various types of stitching may be recreated at arbitrary locationson material within the frame. Embroidery data used as input to such amachine typically consists of a series of x,y coordinates specifying thelocations at which stitches (i.e., needle penetrations) should beplaced. This type of embroidery data may be very difficult and tediousfor a human operator to specify by hand. Hence, many CAD (computer-aideddesign) packages have been created to aid in the embroidery datacreation process. Typically, these systems define simple high-levelprimitives that may be used to generate large groups of individualstitches by simply specifying only a few key points. For example, a setof zig-zag or satin stitches may be specified by setting a stitchdensity value and providing four points that define a bounding polygonfor the stitches. This is illustrated in FIG. 12 a. Similarly, largeareas may be filled using parallel rows of continuous stitching bysimply specifying the boundaries of those areas as illustrated in FIG.12 b. However, as design complexity grows, even using these high-levelprimitives to define embroidery data becomes time consuming and tedious.Additionally, the user of such embroidery data generation systems musthave expert knowledge in terms of understanding and being able to applythese high-level embroidery data primitives. Thus, the focus of thepresent invention is to provide a means of automatically generatinginformation from scanned images that correctly specifies high-levelprimitives and their required data points such that the original scannedimage may be directly converted to embroidery design data. Furthermore,the automation of this process should allow the conversion to be fastwhile not requiring any expertise on the part of the user.

Computer systems have been developed for generating specific types ofembroidery designs. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,510,994 describes asystem that allows a pattern to be scanned into a computer. Whenpatterns are scanned into the computer, the scanner creates a file whichdepicts the characteristics of the scanned image. Once the file iscreated, these systems require human manipulation of the image toidentify and distinguish its certain characteristics. For example, theuser provides the outline in the image. This method of generatingembroidery designs is not fully automated, since human manipulation ofthe image is required to ensure its accuracy. As a result of therequired human interaction, this method of generating designs isinefficient and cumbersome.

A particular embroidery pattern cannot ever conform to any particularcharacteristics. Each pattern contains unique characteristics such assize and color. Depending upon how complex the pattern is, the humaninteraction required to interpret the scanned image may be significant,which thereby hampers the efficiency of the system.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,740,056 describes a method and device for producingembroidery data that also uses image data that has been scanned into afile. The file is read by the embroidery data producing device toproduce an embroidered stitch representation of the image whose data isstored in that file. However, this system has many limitations. First,the input image must be limited to very simple black and white line art.There is no provision for color images or complex black and white lineart containing one or more areas of singularity. Also, no effort is madeto remove or reduce noise that may be present within the scanned image.These factors severely limit the type of artwork that may serve as inputto the system. Additionally, the description of key mechanisms employedby the system detail serious faults that may cause the system to produceerroneous results. For example, the means by which the system derivesthickness information pertaining to contiguous objects within an imageis incorrect. Specifically, this means of computation could erroneouslyindicate that objects are substantially and arbitrarily thicker thanthey are in actuality. To contrast this, in the present invention, themethods employed here to provide thickness information utilizewell-researched integer distance transform algorithms that guaranteeaccurate thickness approximation bounded by known percentage errors.Also, the prior art invention does not consider exterior contour or edgeinformation during the embroidery generation process. Hence, additionaldetail is lost relative to the original scanned image that furtherreduces the quality and accuracy of the resultant embroidery data.Finally, no method is provided for detecting, converting, or generatingembroidery data for complex objects that are not classifiable as eitherthin or thick lines. Thus, the present invention, while within the samefield, is a substantially different and more capable system.

As the complexity of items that require embroidery increases, the needfor better mechanisms for automatically generating embroidery designsfrom a pattern becomes more apparent. To the extent that a mechanismcannot efficiently and accurately interpret intricate scanned patternsinto embroidery designs, the ability to automate embroidery stitching isimpaired.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, amethod and apparatus for automatically generating embroidery design datafrom a scanned image is provided. The preferred embodiment of thepresent invention includes an embroidery generating mechanism whichautomatically and efficiently generates accurate embroidery design data.

The embroidery generating mechanism first reads a file, herein referredto as image data. The image data contains bitmapping informationgenerated from a software scanning tool, the information being relatedto an embroidery pattern that is to be generated. The scanned pattern isbroken up into pixels, each pixel in the scanned image having anassociated color value.

The embroidery generating mechanism includes a segmentation mechanismand a chain-coding mechanism which perform operations to enhance thequality of the bitmapped information and to separate regions of thescanned image into objects. A distance transform (DT) evaluationmechanism also included within the embroidery generating mechanismclassifies each object as being either a thick object or a thin,predominantly regular object. The term regular is used to describe aregion that is not singular. Typically, a regular region may becharacterized as a contiguous region with a relatively constantthickness along a clear unobstructed path. As an example, the strokes ofa character could be described as a set of regular regions joined bysingularities present at points where strokes touch or intersect witheach other. A more thorough discussion of regularities and singularitiesmay be found in image processing literature, such as in Rocha, J. andBernardino, R., “Singularities and Regularities on Line Pictures viaSymmetrical Trapezoids,” IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis andMachine Intelligence, Vol. 20, No. 4, April 1998 pp. 391-395.

If the DT evaluation mechanism determines that an object is thick orirregular, the DT computation mechanism executes a line fittingmechanism, a stitch angle determination mechanism, a fragment generationmechanism, a generational path mechanism and finally an embroidery dataoutput mechanism.

Conversely, if the DT evaluation mechanism determines that an object isa thin, predominantly regular object, the DT evaluation mechanismexecutes a fitting mechanism, a labeling mechanism, a merging mechanism,a coding mechanism, a column smoothing mechanism, a path generationmechanism and finally the embroidery output mechanism.

When the embroidery output mechanism executes, the mechanism has accessto all output data needed for creating an embroidery design that isequivalent to the scanned pattern. The present invention provides acompletely automated, efficient and accurate method for generatingembroidery data from a scanned image.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The preferred exemplary embodiments of the present invention willhereinafter be described in conjunction with the appended drawings,where like designations denote like elements, and:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a computer system in accordance with apreferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram depicting the processing of embroideryinformation in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 3 is an example of a thin object;

FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating a method for automaticallygenerating an embroidery design from a scanned embroidery pattern inaccordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 depicts line detection called triangular filtering;

FIGS. 6 a and 6 b depict a fill stitch region with the resultingfragmentation when two different possibilities for choosing a stitchangle and a fill direction are used;

FIG. 7 shows the thin object of FIG. 3 after skeletal contour, outercontour and inner contour locations have been labelled;

FIG. 8 depicts a method for locating left and right end point anchorswithin a thin object;

FIG. 9 demonstrates a method for determining junction anchor points;

FIG. 10 depicts two line regions or strokes of a thin objectintersecting at a sharp angle;

FIG. 11 shows a segment of a thin object for which stroke cross-sectionsare extracted; and

FIGS. 12 a and 12 b depict examples of primitive data points required togenerate a set of satin stitches or a set of fill stitches respectively.

FIG. 13 depicts the eight possible chain-code values and the associateddirections. A sample chain-code with appropriate chain-code values isalso illustrated.

FIGS. 14 a and 14 b show an example of a thin, predominantly regularobject. FIG. 14 a displays the original object after segmentation. FIG.14 b displays the original object with DT values for each pixel writtenin hexadecimal. Pixels highlighted in white represent the skeletalpixels of the object while pixels highlighted in dark grey represent thechain-coded edges of the object.

FIG. 15 a shows a naive conversion of edge pixels into a bounding edgecontour where connections between objects are lost. FIG. 15 b depictsthe results of the technique described within the context of the presentinvention.

FIG. 16 shows an example depicting three stages in processing theoriginal scanned artwork; contour and skeleton coding, stroke or columnextraction with associated column normals shown; and final stitch outputproduced from the embroidery data file generated.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring now to FIG. 1, a computer system 100 in accordance with apreferred embodiment of the present invention is shown. It should beunderstood that the method and apparatus of the present invention applyequally to any computer system, regardless of whether the computersystem is a complicated multi-user computing apparatus or a single userdevice such as a personal computer or workstation. Computer system 100includes a processor 110, main memory 120, a memory controller 130, anauxiliary storage interface 140, and a terminal interface 150, all ofwhich are interconnected via a system bus 160.

Note that various modifications, additions, or deletions may be made tocomputer system 100 illustrated in FIG. 1 within the scope of thepresent invention, such as the addition of cache memory or otherperipheral devices. A preferred embodiment of the present inventionutilizes a file containing bitmapped image data. This data can be readinto the file using a scanner 170 connected through terminal interface150. It should also be understood that a sewing machine that can be usedfor embroidery may be connected to computer system 100 through a secondterminal interface 180 in accordance with the present invention.

Processor 110 performs computation and control functions of computersystem 100, and comprises a central processing unit (CPU). Processor 110may include a single integrated circuit, such as a microprocessor, orany suitable number of integrated circuit devices and/or circuit boardsworking in cooperation to accomplish the functions of a processor.Processor 110 executes an object-oriented computer program 122 withinmain memory 120.

Auxiliary storage interface 140 allows computer system 100 to store andretrieve information from auxiliary storage devices, such as magneticdisk (hard disks or floppy diskettes) or optical storage devices(CD-ROM). One suitable storage device is a direct access storage device(DASD) 175. As shown in FIG. 1, DASD 175 may be a floppy disk drivewhich may read programs and data from a floppy disk 185. It is importantto note that while the present invention has been (and will continue tobe) described in the context of a fully functional computer system,those skilled in the art will appreciate that the mechanisms of thepresent invention are capable of being distributed as a program productin a variety of forms, and that the present invention applies equallyregardless of the particular type of signal bearing media to actuallycarry out the distribution.

Examples of signal bearing media include: recordable type media such asfloppy disks (disk 180) and CD ROMS, and transmission type media such asdigital and analog communication links, including wireless communicationlinks.

Memory controller 130, through use of a processor (not shown), separatefrom processor 110, is responsible for moving requested information frommain memory 120 and/or through auxiliary storage interface 140 toprocessor 110. While for the purposes of explanation, memory controller130 is shown as a separate entity, those skilled in the art understandthat, in practice, portions of the function provided by memorycontroller 130 may actually reside in the circuitry associated withprocessor 110, main memory 120, and/or auxiliary storage interface 140.

Terminal interface 150 allows system administrators and computerprogrammers to communicate with computer system 100, normally throughprogrammable workstations. Similarly, although the system bus 160 of thepreferred embodiment is a typical hardwired, multidrop bus, anyconnection means that supports-directional communication in acomputer-related environment could be used.

Main memory 120 contains one or more computer programs 122, an operatingsystem 124, and an embroidery generating mechanism 126. Computer program122 in memory 120 is used in its broadest sense, and includes any andall forms of computer programs, including source code, intermediatecode, machine code, and any other representation of a computer program.

It should be understood that main memory 120 need not necessarilycontain all parts of all mechanisms shown. For example, portions ofcomputer program 122 and operating system 124 may be loaded into aninstruction cache (not shown) for processor 110 to execute, while otherfiles may well be stored on magnetic or optical disk storage devices(not shown). In addition, although computer program 122 is shown toreside in the same memory location as operating system 124 andembroidery generating mechanism 126, it is to be understood that mainmemory 120 may consist of multiple disparate memory locations.

A preferred embodiment of the present invention provides an embroiderygenerating mechanism which automatically, efficiently and accuratelygenerates embroidery design data output from embroidery image data. Anembroidery device receives the embroidery design data output andstitches the design according to the output. The resulting stitchedembroidery design is a nearly flawless reproduction of the originalimage data.

Referring now to FIG. 2, a block diagram depicting the processing ofembroidery information in accordance with a preferred embodiment of thepresent invention is shown. Generally, the present invention supplies afile containing image data 202 to embroidery generating mechanism 126(as indicated by the leftmost right pointing arrow). In turn, embroiderydata generating mechanism 126 executes a series of sub-mechanisms onimage data file 202 and produces an embroidery output file 204 (asindicated by the rightmost right pointing arrow) which contains datathat is fed to a sewing device for stitching the embroidery design.

Embroidery data generating mechanism 126 contains a segmentationmechanism 206, a chain coding mechanism 208, a DT evaluation mechanism210, a line fitting mechanism 212, a stitch angle determinationmechanism 214, a fragment generating mechanism 216, a generate pathmechanism 218, an embroidery output mechanism 220, a fitting mechanism222, a labelling mechanism 224, a merging mechanism 226, a codingmechanism 228, a column smoothing mechanism 230 and a path generatingmechanism 232.

When a user first scans in an embroidery pattern, a software programwithin the scanner creates a representation of the pattern, referred toin this specification as image data 202. Image data 202 is broken upinto small objects called pixels. Each pixel in the image data 202 hasan associated color. Each unique color in the scanned pattern has itsown unique bitmap. For purposes of the present invention, it should beassumed that image data 202 contains 24-bit color, 300 dpi bitmappedinformation.

Before embroidery data generating mechanism 126 executes on image data202, image data 202 is in its raw form and the bitmapped data storedwithin the file has not yet been error-corrected. For example, beforeembroidery data generating mechanism 126 executes on image data 202,some pixels of image data 202 may have incorrect bitmap assignments dueto noise distortion during the scan. For example, a pixel may have beenassigned a color which is not a correct representation of that pixel.

Once image data 202 has been scanned, embroidery data generatingmechanism 126 executes segmentation mechanism 206. Segmentationmechanism 206 classifies each pixel within image data 202 as belongingto a distinct object, where each object represents a particularcontiguous or connected region in the image data. Any pixels that werenot categorized into a particular object during the first segmentationmay be considered noise, generated during scanning when the scannercould not properly assign a color for a particular pixel.

Each pixel has a series of eight neighboring pixels, and it is likelythat at least one of these neighboring pixels has been assigned to aparticular object. Segmentation mechanism 206 assigns an uncategorizedpixel to an object where a neighboring pixel has been assigned. Itshould be understood that each of the eight neighboring pixels maybelong to more than one object. Segmentation 206 mechanism usesmathematical methods to determine which object to which an uncategorizedpixel should be assigned.

Once segmentation mechanism 206 segments image data 202 into objects,chain-coding mechanism 208 performs further image processing on eachindividual object within image data 202. Chain-coding mechanism 208chain codes each object's edge contours and then uses the chain-codedcontours to compute the skeleton and 3-4 integer distance transform(herein referred to as DT) information for each object.

After the execution of chain-coding mechanism 208, embroidery datagenerating mechanism 126 executes DT evaluation mechanism 210. DTcomputation mechanism 210 classifies each object into one of twocategories. Either the object is a thick object or a thin, predominantlyregular object. Whether the object is classified as a thick object or athin, predominantly regular object determines the next series ofprocessing steps needed to generate output embroidery data for eachobject. A thick object is stitched in rows using fill stitch, whereas athin object is stitched in columns using a satin stitch (also referredto as a zig-zag stitch).

Now referring to FIG. 3, a thin line object 300 is shown for purposes ofdefining terms contained within this specification. The letter “A” hasbeen identified herein as a thin line object present in the image data.As described above, since object 300 is a thin line object, it is to bestitched using a satin stitch.

Object 300 contains an external edge contour 302, an internal edgecontour 304, a series of skeletal branches 306 and a number of nodes308. External edge contour 302 can be described simply as the outeredges of a line object. Similarly, internal edge contour 304 can bedescribed as the inner edges of a line object. Skeletal branches 306represent the approximate midpoint between external edge contours 302and/or internal edge contours 304. Nodes 308 represent areas whereskeletal branches 306 intersect.

Again referring to FIG. 2, as mentioned above, DT evaluation mechanism210 determines whether an object is a thick object or a thin, regularobject. If DT evaluation mechanism 210 determines that the object isthick, embroidery data generating mechanism 126 executes line fittingmechanism 212. Line fitting mechanism 212 stores all external edgecontours and internal edge contours of the line object in discrete datastructures.

Once line fitting mechanism 212 executes, embroidery data generatingmechanism 126 executes stitch angle determination mechanism 214. Asmentioned, thick objects are stitched in rows using fill stitching. Itis desirable to stitch adjacent parallel rows continuously at a singlefixed angle such that needle repositioning is minimized and continuityis preserved. Stitch angle determination mechanism 214 determines anoptimum angle for the fill stitching, so as to minimize needlerepositioning during the fill.

Fragment generation mechanism 216 is executed by embroidery generatingmechanism 126 after line fitting mechanism 212 finishes executing.Fragment generation mechanism 216 separates the fill stitching into aseries of sub-regions called fragments. Each fragment corresponds to amaximal area that may be filled at a specified angle/direction using asingle fill stitch operation (i.e., without any needle repositioning). Amodified scan-line fill algorithm is utilized when breaking up an objectinto a set of maximal fragments. Sixteen different scan angles are usedto determine the angle that is the most optimal, that is the angle whichgenerates the smallest number of fragments.

Once fragment generation mechanism 216 executes, embroidery datagenerating mechanism 126 executes generate path mechanism 218. Generatepath mechanism 218 determines the order that fragments should be sewn soas to minimize or eliminate thread cutting. Generate path mechanism 218also determines the most optimal locations for the points where sewingof a fragment begins and ends (typically referred to as the entry andexit points).

After the execution of generate path mechanism 218, embroidery datagenerating mechanism 126 executes embroidery output mechanism 220.Embroidery output mechanism 220 produces an embroidery output filecontaining all data necessary to stitch the thick object including theproper angles, fragments and start/exit points.

If DT computation mechanism 210 determines that an object in image data202 is a thin object, embroidery data generating mechanism 126 executesline fitting mechanism 212. Line-fitting mechanism 212 determines andcreates a data structure for each external edge contour, internal edgecontour, skeletal branch and node within the thin object. These datastructures are used to create points needed for stitching the embroiderypattern.

Once line fitting mechanism 212 processes a thin object, embroidery datagenerating mechanism 126 executes labelling mechanism 224. A thin objectis made up of object contours which are the outermost portions of a lineand skeleton branches which delineate the approximate midpoint lyingwithin the line. Labelling mechanism 224 determines the location of allvertices on a line object and categorizes a subset of these vertices asbeing either end point anchors or junction point anchors. These anchorsare used to further delineate or provide bounds for the simplecontinuous column-like regions that compose a thin object. The regionsbounded by these anchors are synonymous with the regularities of theobject.

Embroidery data generating mechanism 126 executes merging mechanism 226after labelling mechanism 224 labels all vertices. Merging mechanism 226performs additional processing on objects to detect certain acutecharacteristics present in the object that would be detected by a humanexpert. Merging mechanism 226 may detect serif-like sections of anobject, like those used in conjunction with the Times Roman type font.The serifs are present at the top and bottom sections of the letter “A”.These particular characteristics are detected based upon rules that havebeen hard-coded into merging mechanism 226.

After embroidery data generating mechanism 126 executes mergingmechanism 226, coding mechanism 228 executes. Coding mechanism 228eliminates singular regions of a thin object so that connectedregularities can be sewn as single continuous columns or strokes. Codingmechanism 228 utilizes contour anchor points at each singular region.When coding mechanism 228 finishes execution, all final strokerepresentation needed for embroidery satin stitch data point generationare produced.

Embroidery data generating mechanism 126 then executes column smoothingmechanism 230. Column smoothing mechanism 230 removes discontinuityamong consecutive stroke normals generated by coding mechanism 228.

After column smoothing mechanism 230 executes, embroidery datagenerating mechanism 126 executes path generating mechanism 232. Pathgenerating mechanism 232 ensures that no thread cuts will be requiredduring the sewing of a contiguous stroke region, thereby increasing theefficiency of stitching the embroidery pattern.

During the execution of column smoothing mechanism 230, embroidery datagenerating mechanism 126 executes embroidery output mechanism 220.Embroidery output mechanism 220 produces an embroidery output filecontaining all data necessary to stitch the thin object including theproper columns and start/exit points.

Now referring to FIG. 4, a method 400 for automatically generating anembroidery design from a scanned embroidery pattern is shown. Method 400begins in step 402 when the embroidery generating mechanism reads imagedata that has been input into a data file using a scanner.

As described above, the scanner generates a bitmapped filerepresentation of the scanned pattern.

In step 404, the embroidery generating mechanism executes thesegmentation mechanism. The segmentation mechanism segments contiguousregions of similar color into objects, each object having a uniqueobject identification. Segmentation consists of several processingsteps. The first step, selectively smoothes the image to eliminate noiseclassified as “salt and pepper” noise and to increase color homogeneitybetween pixels belonging to areas of similar perceived color. This stepis unique from other standard smoothing operators in that the distortionof edges (sometimes termed edge dilation) is avoided. Specifically, apixel area or neighborhood is evaluated to first see if it is an area ofhigh contrast (indicating the presence of an edge). If this is the case,the area is not smoothed to preserve the edge direction and location.However, areas of low contrast are smoothed by performing a weightedaverage of surrounding color values to promote the type of homogeneitydiscussed above.

After smoothing, region growing operations are sequentially initiated atpoints of low contrast (as determined above) to create a starting set ofimage segments or objects. The growing operation allows pixels nearthese starting points to be added to an associated segment if theircolor is similar to that of the starting point's.

Any pixels that have not been segmented into objects are usually foundaround areas of high contrast or noise in the image. Each uncategorizedpixel is absorbed into an object which neighbors the uncategorizedpixel. The segmentation mechanism compares the closeness of anuncategorized pixel as well as the color similarity of the uncategorizedpixel to determine the neighboring object to which the uncategorizedpixel should be merged.

Once all pixels in the bitmap have been categorized into objects by thesegmentation mechanism, the segmentation mechanism removes any objectscontaining less than six pixels, since it is assumed that these objectsrepresent mere noise. The segmentation mechanism then assigns the pixelsbelonging to these noise regions with the object identification of thenearest larger neighboring object.

In step 406, the embroidery generating mechanism executes the chain-codemechanism. Chain coding mechanism 208 actually performs thinning and DTcomputation in addition to generating chain codes for the segmentedimage data. Chain coding mechanism 208 operates by performing a singleraster scan of the now segmented image data and creating strings ofchain-codes that represent the closed contours (or edges) of eachobject. A single object always has one closed exterior contourrepresenting the outer most edge of the object, but may also have one ormore closed interior contours representing one or more holes in theobject. Chain-coding these contours involves detecting the pixels whichlie on these contours (i.e. the edges of an object) and relating them toone another as a single string of continuous locations. Specifically, asingle pixel on one of these edge contours is chosen as a chain-codehead for the contour and as such is specified by storing its x,ylocation in a discrete data structure. Then, the next pixel specified bythe chain code is a subsequent edge pixel that touches or is connectedto the previous pixel in the chain (in this case the head pixel). Thelocation of the next pixel is stored in a discrete data structure byspecifying its location relative to the previous pixel. This relativeposition may indicate that the pixel lies one pixel to the east,northeast, north, northwest, west, southwest, south, or southeast of theprevious edge pixel. As such, a type of directions are provided whichallow a contour's chain-code to be traversed starting from it head andworking around the entire edge. FIG. 13 shows for a pixel p, the eightneighboring pixels' relative chain-code directions. Once all objectcontours are encoded in this fashion and stored in the computers memory,this information serves as input to the thinning/DT computationalgorithm. This algorithm is an extension of the approach presented inPaul C. Kwok's paper, “A Thinning Algorithm by Contour Generation” inCommunications of the ACM (November 1988). A detailed description ofthis algorithm is beyond the scope of what is presented here. Its basicpremise is to evaluate consecutive chain-code directions to allowsections of chain-code (3-pixels long) to be categorized. Then, based onthe specific categorization, a section of new chain-coded contour may beproduced immediately toward the interior of the existing contour. Thisprocess is continued until an entirely new chain-coded contour iscreated within the immediate interior of the existing contour,effectively “shaving off” the outer most edge of the object (i.e.thinning the object). Then, the process continues iteratively using thenewly generated chain-code contour as input. The process stops when anewly generated contour represents a single pixel-wide area within thecenter of an object known as the object's skeleton.

The algorithm has been extended to also efficiently compute the (3,4)distance transform (DT) for each pixel contained within an object duringcontour generation. An integer distance transform, such at the (3,4) DT,sometimes termed the chamfer DT, attempts to approximate the Euclideandistance from any non-feature pixel (in this case, a pixel in theinterior of an object) to the nearest feature pixel (the nearest pixelexterior to the object). A thorough description and examination of DTsis presented by Gunilla Borgefors paper, “Distance Transformations inDigital Images,” in Computer Vision, Graphics and Image Processing (vol.34, 1986).

An illustration of the chain-coded contours, skeleton, and DT values ofan object is presented in FIG. 14. Note, DT values in FIG. 14 arewritten in hexadecimal to conserve space. A DT value may be normalizedby dividing the value by three. This normalized value indicates theapproximate distance to the nearest boundary of the object. In thisfigure, chain-coded pixels are highlighted in dark grey while skeletalpixels are highlighted in white. The method of chain-coding,skeletonization and DT computation is not fundamentally important withinthe context of the present invention. Other methods for theircomputation are described throughout the literature. It is simplyrequired that this information be computed by some means and is madeavailable for use and evaluation by subsequent mechanisms of the presentinvention.

Once the chain-coding mechanism 208 executes, the embroidery datagenerating mechanism executes the DT evaluation mechanism 210. The DTevaluation mechanism classifies each object in the image data as beingeither a thick object or a thin, predominantly regular object. Asexplained above, a thick object is stitched in rows using fill stitchwhereas a thin object is stitched in columns using satin stitching.

The DT evaluation mechanism is able to classify each object since allthin objects are characteristically made up of regular regions.Predominantly regular regions display properties of constant thicknesswith few areas of singularity (e.g. where multiple regions intersect).The DT evaluation mechanism detects regular objects by examining the DTvalues of pixels on the skeleton of the object (refer to FIG. 14).

For regular regions these pixels typically contain distance transformvalues that fall within a relatively narrow range. In effect, for aregular region, no significant variation (increase or decrease) shouldexist of the associated skeletal pixels' labeled distance transformvalues. In other words, a lack of such deviation signifies that theregion represented by the skeleton is of relatively uniform thicknessand direction.

Thus, DT evaluation mechanism 210 operates by computing severalmathematical statistics for the DT values present at skeletal pixellocations. Again, these skeletal pixels are the center most interiorpoints of an object and define the shape of an object's overall skeletonas described earlier and illustrated in FIG. 3. The statistics computedinclude (but are not limited to) the maximum (max) of these DT values,the arithmetic mean (p) of these DT values, and the standard deviation(σ) of these DT values. After statistics are computed, rules areconstructed which categorize an object based on arithmetic relationshipsbetween any combination of the various computed statistics and/orexperimentally determined thresholds. For example, if2·σ<μ<½·max

then the object is considered predominantly regular. Also, if max and μare less than predefined threshold values the object may also beconsidered thin. Any objects that do not meet these criteria may beconsidered thick. Additional relationships or rules may be establishedto further distinguish between thin predominantly regular objects orthick objects. Although not currently employed here, it may also bepossible to compute such statistics for each skeletal branch allowingclassification to be performed within various regions of a singleobject. Subsequent processing after this mechanism executes issignificantly different depending on whether an object is classified asa thick object or a thin predominantly regular object.

Once the DT evaluation mechanism classifies an object as either thick orthin, step 408, the embroidery data generating mechanism determineswhether an object has been classified as thick, step 410. If an objecthas been classified as thick, step 410, the embroidery data generatingmechanism executes the line fitting mechanism, step 412.

The line fitting mechanism detects sections of object contours which maybe approximated as discrete line segments. Hence, these contours are nowcharacterized as polygons instead of complex strings of connectedpixels. This process also eliminates any minor noise that may be presentalong the edge of an object.

Now referring to FIG. 5, a method that can be used for line detectiontermed triangular filtering is shown. FIG. 5 contains a plurality ofpixels 502 wherein a number of vertices have been identified 504, asdifferential chain-code points, as indicated by the black fill. Threevertices 504 form points on a triangle 506, as indicated by the dottedline. Vertices 504 are eliminated based on the height of the triangleformed by itself and neighboring differential points. Specifically, if atriangle height is below a particular threshold value, its associatedvertex is eliminated from the poly-line approximation.

Prior to the poly-line approximation process for object contours, anadditional step must be performed to maintain the connectivity betweenindependent objects within a scanned image. When first extracting thedifferential chain-code points, it may seem reasonable to createassociated poly-line vertices at the center of those extracted points.However, within this context, it is very important that this is not donesince all connections between adjacent objects would then be lost.Instead, points are assigned toward the edge of associated chain-codebased upon the surrounding chain-code directions.

The chain-code contexts are organized in a manner similar to the methodpresented for contour generation. More precisely, the difference betweenthe current and previous chain-code values is used to classify theparticular case for poly-line vertex generation. Additionally, fixedvertices (i.e., vertices which may not be removed during triangularfiltering) are placed at the outer edge of contour chain-codes where thetouching or adjacent object has changed. This is done to ensure that thetwo objects always begin to share a common edge at this fixed anchorpoint. The final result of this effort is that objects sharing a commonpixel boundary now also share a common poly-line boundary as shown inFIG. 15.

In order for this property to be maintained, one additional change mustalso propagate to the implementation of the triangular filtering.Specifically, when triangle heights are computed and multiple verticeshave an equivalent minimum height, the choice for removal must not bearbitrary. Instead the vertex removed is chosen to be the one which liesclosest to the origin in Cartesian coordinates. This guarantees that,among different objects sharing common boundaries (i.e., between fixedanchor points), the same set of vertices are removed in the same orderduring their associated triangular filter operations.

As mentioned, thick objects or fill stitch regions require significantlyless processing than do thin or satin-stitch regions. However, someprocessing must be performed to ensure that the most optimal stitchangle is used to fill stitch a thick object. Specifically, thick objectsmust be sewn as continuous rows of stitching laid down in adjacentparallel rows of a single fixed angle throughout the entire object. Theorder in which the physical stitches are sewn is constrained whereas theangle at which the physical stitches may be sewn is more flexible.

For fill stitch regions it is most desirable to be able to start sewingrows of stitches in a quasi-scan-line ordering at one side of the objectand to continue sewing until the other side of the object isencountered. However, because the region may contain holes or complexconcavities, this may not be possible since the sewing needle may not belifted without leaving a thread trail. Thus, a single fill region mayhave to be fragmented into smaller sub-regions which are eachindividually able to be sewn out in a continuous scan-line manner.

After a sub-region is sewn, the thread may be cut or, if possible,running stitches may be generated to move to the beginning of the nextun-sewn sub-region. It should be noted that in embroidery designs,thread cuts impose a significant sewing time penalty they are, ingeneral, undesirable. Thus, when creating embroidery data, thread cutsare eliminated or minimized whenever possible. One method of reducingthe number of thread cuts within a complex fill region is to choose asewing direction that minimizes the number of fragments or sub-regionsthat must be created.

Once again referring to FIG. 4, the embroidery generating mechanismexecutes the stitch-angle determination mechanism, step 414. Thestitch-angle determination mechanism chooses a scan angle from sixteenpossible scan angles that generates the fewest fragments for the object.Specifically, for each possible scan angle the region is fragmented viathe fragment generation mechanism and the total number of fragmentsgenerated using that particular scan angle is stored in memory. Afterall sixteen scan angles are used, the angle chosen is the one whichcaused the fewest fragments to be generated.

Now referring to FIG. 6 a, a stitch fill region 600 is shown. Stitchfill region 600 is shown as segmented using a downward fill directionand associated left to right fill angle. As shown, stitch fill region600 has a first segment 602 and a second segment 604. Using the downwardfill direction and left to right fill angle requires that fill stitchregion 600 be broken into two regions.

Now referring to FIG. 6 b, stitch fill region 600 is again shown.However, now a left to right fill direction and an upward pointingstitch angle is used. Using these directions for fill and stitch, stitchfill region 600 may be sewn as a single fragment and does not need to bebroken up into smaller regions. Thus, in this example, the stitch angledemonstrated in FIG. 6 b would be chosen over the stitch angledemonstrated in FIG. 6 a since the stitch angle in FIG. 6 b producesfewer fragments.

Referring again to FIG. 4, once the stitch angle determination mechanismchooses an angle that minimizes fragmentation, the embroidery generatingmechanism executes the fragment generation mechanism, step 416. With aminimum set of fragments generated for a fill stitch object, an optimalordering of the fragments must now be derived. Specifically, thefragments should be sewn in a particular order as to both minimizethread cuts and run stitching while maintaining path connectivity asmuch as possible. Once fragments are generated, step 416, the embroiderygenerating mechanism executes the generate path mechanism, step 418, todetermine the most optimal order for sewing the fragments.

The entry and exit points into the region (i.e., where sewing begins andends) can be any points on an exterior contour belonging to the region.Then, the fragments that are touched at these points may be determinedeasily. The fragment corresponding to the region exit point is examinedfirst. Here, a recursive procedure is defined which traverses theremaining fill fragment regions starting from this ending region. Asrecursive calls are completed, control points for fill fragments aregenerated until finally, the ending region's control points aregenerated. The order in which fragments are traversed is dependent onseveral factors. Ideally, after a single fragment is traversed or sewn,running stitches should be generated within the interior of the globalregion to the entry point of the next fragment to be traversed or sewn.

It is preferable to use running stitches instead of individual threadcuts and needle up movements between fragments since the associatedoverhead is significantly less. The running stitches generated betweenfragments must eventually be covered up when the fragments fillstitching is sewn. The desire to eliminate thread cuts implies that,while sewing a fill region, the needle is always down (i.e., leaving atrail of stitching behind it). Thus, the planning of fill fragments andrunning stitches sewn between them is quite important.

Additionally, it may occur that such an ordering is impossible with thegiven minimum set of fragments provided (That is, the algorithm isforced to sew itself into a corner so to speak.) To avoid this, one mayeither introduce a thread cut and use needle up movements to gain accessto remaining un-sewn portions of the object, or a further fragmentationof the original fragments may be performed. This additionalfragmentation allows the sequence of traversed fragments to continue atthe cost of increasing the total number of fragments or sub-regions thatmust be sewn. This cost could be significant if shifts or buckles in thematerial being sewn occur due to the excessive movement between multiplefragments.

Ultimately, this could lead to fragments becoming misaligned with oneanother or not meeting precisely at their boundaries causing noticeablespaces within the fill region. Thus, fragments should be sewn in ascontinuous a manner as possible. A recursive algorithm must be usedwhich requires that previously during fragment creation, each fragmentwas marked as to how it was created. For example, a previously existingfragment was split causing the creation of a new fragment connected tothe previous fragment at its start edge or start scan-line. The mid-lineor poly-line of each fragment is also computed as the path from startline to end line lying at the mid-points between the vertices marked onthe left and right side of the fragment. This mid-line is used todetermine a suitable path to move upon from the sewing needle's currentposition to the entry point for the next fragment to be generated.

Once the generate path mechanism finishes executing, step 420 theembroidery data generating mechanism executes the embroidery outputmechanism.

If the object was not classified as a thick object, step 410, the objectis a thin object to be sewn with satin stitch. When an object isclassified as a thin object by the DT evaluation mechanism, step 408,the embroidery generating mechanism executes the line fitting mechanism,step 422. Like the line fitting mechanism performed in step 412, theline fitting mechanism of step 422 performs line fitting on the externaland internal contours of the thin object. However, the line fittingmechanism additionally represents the skeletal branches and nodes indata structures, step 422. Specifically, skeletal branches arerepresented as minimal sets of connected line segments instead of longstrings of connected pixels. Relationships such as the specific nodesthat various branches connect and the number of branches that meet atany given node are maintained within discrete data structures to provideeasily accessible and appropriate information for subsequent processingsteps.

Generating control points for satin stitch regions is significantly morecomplex than generating those points needed for fill object stitching.This is predominantly due to the fact that extracting intuitively shapedstrokes from a static bitmap is an inherently difficult problem. Most ofthis difficulty occurs when attempting to interpret the singular regionsof a stroke image. The methods presented here involve findingcharacteristic edge vertices using the geometric properties of both theskeleton and edge contour as well as distance transform informationpresent at and around skeletal nodes.

Once the line fitting mechanism executes, step 424, the embroidery datagenerating mechanism executes the labeling mechanism. The labelingmechanism identifies and classifies points on the outer contour, theinner contour(s), the skeleton contour within various categories.

Now referring to FIG. 7, thin object 500 is again shown with additionallabelling as performed by the labelling mechanism, step 424. Thin object500 now includes an end node 702, a junction node 704, a junction pointanchor 706, a skeletal branch vertice 708 and an end node DT value 710.

The labeling mechanism labels the skeleton contour at junction nodes 704and end nodes 702 which effectively indicate points at whichsingularities or discontinuities are present in the thin object.

Using this labelled information, characteristic edge vertices are foundwhich delineate the boundaries of regular regions. Here, two differenttypes of characteristic edge vertices are defined and located: junctionpoint anchors 706 and end point anchors 710. Each junction point anchor706 characterizes a specific concavity formed in the skeletalrepresentation where two skeletal branches 708 intersect.

An end point anchor is a vertex on the object contour that is associatedwith a skeletal node of degree 1. The degree of a skeletal node is thenumber of branches that emanate from it. Examples of both types ofanchor points are shown in FIG. 7. After locating these anchor points,each skeletal branch not eliminated due to the removal of artifacts hasassociated left and right contours.

More specifically, these contours are delineated and bounded by the leftand right anchor points found at the skeletal nodes present at eitherend of the skeletal branch. The embroidery generating mechanism executesthe anchor locating mechanism to determine the location of end pointanchors.

Now referring to FIG. 8, a method for locating left and right end pointanchors within a thin object is shown at reference numeral 800. Method800 begins when the anchor locating mechanism extends the skeletal endnode in the direction of the entering skeletal branch, step 802.

The direction of the extension is considered to be the generalizeddirection of the singularity at which the branch is terminated. Thisdirection is recorded for use in later steps. The actual extension ofthe skeletal branch is proportional to the local thickness of the endnode so that the branch is guaranteed not to extend beyond theboundaries of the object.

Additionally, the local thickness (average DT value along the skeletalbranch end) is used to compute a maximum search distance utilized inother steps. One final reference measurement taken is the generalizedstart angle for the singularity. This value is the angle of the normalvector to a slightly more interior point of the skeletal branch or thenormal to the average vector of two approximately parallel edge vectorslocated on either side of the ending region.

Once all branches are extended, step 802, the end point anchor locatingmechanism executes to find the closest edge vertex, step 804. Theclosest edge vertex is located by finding the closest edge contour pointnearest to the extended skeletal end point node.

The end point anchor locating mechanism checks for a sufficiently acutecontour point, step 806. Specifically, the contour bend angle at thepoint located is computed, step 806. This angle may indicate that asufficiently sharp convexity (i.e., an acute angle less than apredefined threshold, such as 30 degrees) exists. If so, this branch isconsidered to end at a single sharp point. Both the left and right endpoint anchors are defined at this point. Otherwise, if the left andright neighbor vertices of the edge vertex are also close to theextended skeletal end point (not more than twice the distance of theclosest vertex), the system checks for a sufficiently acute vertex atthese vertices. If, of the three vertices checked, none is sufficientlyacute, the left and right end point anchors are determined in subsequentsteps.

The anchor locating mechanism searches for an anchor pair by searchingfor a pair of end point anchor points that most closely meets thefollowing criteria, step 808. The search should start with the closestedge contour point and then should progress toward neighboring connectedcontour points. The search should continue until either the distancetraversed on the contour (from the located close point) exceeds themaximum computed search distance or until a maximum of four neighboringvertices adjacent on either side of the close vertex are examined.

For each connected and adjacent pair of vertices within the set ofexamined vertices, vector angles are computed for the section of contourthat the adjacent vertices represent. The vector entering the leftvertex of the two adjacent vertices and the vector leaving the rightvertex should both be compared to the computed extension angle. Thesetwo vectors should be in opposite relative directions compared to theextension angle. If they are not, the associated vertices are rejectedas end point anchor candidates.

For all pairs of end point anchors not rejected the angle of the vectorbetween the two anchors is computed and the deviation from the startangle is recorded. The pair chosen is the pair the vector angle of whichis closest to the computed start angle in direction and closest to thecomputed local thickness in magnitude.

In addition to testing adjacent contour points as possible anchorcandidates, non-adjacent pairs are also tested. Specifically, contourpoints that are separated by a single contour vertex are tested asanchor point candidates Using a similar approach, the system tests forapproximately opposite but parallel entry and exit vectors.

If none of these search heuristics produces a suitable set of end pointvertices, the vertices are both chosen to be located at the closestcontour convexity point. Once the end point vertices are calculated, theembroidery data generating mechanism executes the junction anchor pointsdetermination mechanism.

Now referring to FIG. 9, a method 900 begins when the embroidery datagenerating mechanism executes the junction anchor points mechanism todetermine stroke junction anchor points. The junction anchor pointsmechanism computes bounding branch angles, step 902.

These bounded branch angles are computed by traversing each connectedbranch from the given node to find a point whose distance from the nodeis equal to the nodes DT value. Then a single line connecting the nodeto that point specifies a vector with a given angle, termed the branchangle, originating from the node. This angle is computed for each branchoriginating at the skeletal junction node. A range of angles isconstructed for each consecutive pair of branches moving in a clockwiseorder. This range is simply a measure of the skeletal concavity formedbetween branches entering at the node and effectively partitions thesurrounding 2D space into n areas (where n is the number of branchesentering this node).

Once bounding branch angles are computed, the anchor pointsdetermination mechanism executes to search for contour concavities thatmap to skeletal concavities, step 904. The search should be within asearch distance proportional to the junction node's local thickness(i.e., its DT value) and the magnitude of the skeletal concavity.Specifically, the search distance is chosen as:(DT value)*10^((2Pi-theta))

where theta is the angle between the two associated skeletal branchvectors.

Once contour concavities are found, the junction anchor pointsdetermination mechanism executes to compute concavity directions, step906. This value is a vector indicating the midpoint in the angulardistance between the two edge contour segments connected at theconcavity point.

The anchor points determination mechanism computes relative concavitylocation, step 908, by deriving the angular location and distance ofeach contour concavity point from the associated skeletal node. Once therelative concavity location is computed, in step 910 the anchor pointsdetermination mechanism chooses a matching contour point for eachskeletal concavity. This is accomplished by choosing the closest contourconcavity point the concavity direction of which lies closest to thecenter of angular distance of a skeletal concavity.

Also, the relative concavity location should fall within the boundedrange of the skeletal concavity to which it is mapped. Thus, for eachskeletal concavity there should exist a corresponding edge contourconcavity point. (Exceptions may occur in the case of elongationartifacts where no contour concavity may be located.)

After the junction anchor points determination mechanism finishesexecuting, the skeleton should be annotated with characteristic edgevertices. Counter intuitive distortions of a region's skeleton due tothickness of the region, known as artifacts, may be removed. Forexample, when two sufficiently thick, straight lines cross at a sharpangle, the generated skeleton may represent this intersection as a linesegment between two pairs of skeletal branches. While this may be a moreaccurate geometric interpretation of the intersection, it is notindicative of the intuitive topography of the shape.

This specific type of artifact is called a bifurcation. When two thicklines join at a single point and at a significantly sharp angle, asimilar artifact is produced called an elongation artifact. When twocontour anchor points are shared (i.e., or in common) between two nodessharing an associated skeletal branch, a bifurcation artifact may beidentified and the nodes may be merged at the midpoint between the two.

Now referring to FIG. 10, a first line segment 1010 and a second linesegment 1020 are shown intersecting each other at a midpoint 1030. Aplurality of skeletal nodes are shown as n1 and n2 and are discovered tobe the end points of a bifurcation. However, notice that it isinsufficient to detect this case by checking for an overlap of localthickness circles as proposed previously in the literature.

Instead, characteristic edge vertices are located at a plurality ofpoints A, B, C and D. When it is discovered that the two nodes share acommon skeletal branch, the two associated characteristic edge verticesare examined for similarity. If both nodes have been mapped to the sametwo characteristic edge vertices (in this case D and B), the nodes aremerged.

The location of each characteristic edge vertex is bounded by associatedbranch angels in the figure shown as vectors originating from nodes n1and n2. As the angle between any two of these vectors increases, so doesthe bounding distance within which characteristic edge vertices may belocated. Specifically, the following equation is used:Search Distance=(DT value)*10^((2Pi+theta))

where theta is the angle between two branch vectors. The constant valueof 10 was chosen empirically. Lower or higher values may be chosen; theyaffect the heuristic's propensity to merge nodes which are far apart.

Similarly, for elongation artifacts, if contour anchor points cannot belocated on either side of a branch angle, the related branch iseliminated with movement of the related skeletal nodes to approximatethe branch's midpoint. An additional constraint must specify that themaximum length of the elongation branch be less than the maximumcharacteristic edge vertex search distance (see Search Distance definedabove).

When a branch is eliminated and the two related nodes are merged(whether due to the presence of an elongation or bifurcation artifact)the endpoints of all remaining branches attached at the two originalnodes are effectively “pulled” toward a new junction point. This newjunction point is located at the midpoint of the branch between the twonodes.

Referring again to FIG. 4, once the labelling mechanism finishesexecuting, the embroidery generating mechanism executes the mergingmechanism, step 426. After the skeleton and contours are labeled andcorrelated, further simplification and interpretation may be performed.In addition to the removal of bifurcation and elongation artifacts, setsof hard coded procedures are used to check for other special casesoccurring within the representation extracted thus far.

The foregoing procedures are a type of static knowledge base thatfurther delineates how regular and singular regions should beinterpreted for the specific task of embroidery mark point generation.The rules coded here are application specific and take into account themethods a human expert would use to create embroidery for stroke likeregions. An example of one such rule would be the location andinterpretation of types of serif-like fonts described above.

The presence of these regions may be detected using the surroundingskeletal, contour, label, and DT data extracted thus far. The firstindicator is a skeletal node of degree 3 in which two of its branchesare sufficiently short and terminate at nodes of degree 1.

A second criterion is formulated by examining the characteristic edgepoints associated with the two termination nodes at the end of thesebranches. Specifically, the left end point anchor of one branch shouldbe directly connected to the right end point anchor of the other branch(or vice-versa) via a single contour line segment. Then, one finalcriterion ensures that the serif merges smoothly with the main column.Here, the associated junction point anchors are evaluated. If they donot represent a significantly sharp or acute contour concavity, themerge is considered to be smooth.

Once the serif-like region is identified, the two associated short serifbranches are removed and endpoint anchor points for the remainingbranches are redefined to lie at the left and right endpoint anchorpoints of the eliminated branches.

The combination of skeleton, distance transform, contour, andcharacteristic edge point information allows a user to create intuitiverules to recognize special cases. These static rules, formulated by ahuman expert for the targeted domain, are an adequate solution tointerpreting specific areas of stroke (e.g., region) appropriately.

The coding mechanism executes to evaluate singular regions usingsurrounding regularities, step 428. The remaining singular regionslocated around skeletal junction nodes are indicative of a set ofinterfering regular regions. These regular regions merge at theassociated singularity causing any continuity between the set ofregularities to be occluded. Processing described here attempts toreconstruct the occluded stroke or contour information by utilizing asimple energy minimization strategy.

While this strategy may not always be able to reconstruct the exactdynamics of the singular region as it was originally created, it doesprovide at least one interpretation suitable for the singularity'sdynamic recreation using embroidery stitching. The overall idea of thestrategy is to match appropriate pairs of regular regions entering thesingularity.

Reconstructing the required occluded boundaries between their regionsthen joins these regular regions such that they may be sewn as a singlecontinuous column or stroke. Conditions for matching two regular regionsjoined at a singularity include energy minimization criteria, so thatjoining the two regions does not result in any sharp discontinuity orarea of high energy. The occluded boundaries, which are reconstructed,are also created to eliminate as much discontinuity as possible, suchthat the final stitching generated within the regularity does not appearerratic or aesthetically improper.

As an example, refer to FIG. 10. Here, the singularity present at theintersection area of the two line regions is interpreted. Using theabove criteria it is determined that stroke area 1010 should continuethrough the singularity to connect with stroke area 1050. The occludedboundaries through the singularity are reconstructed by having contourpoint A continue or connect to contour point B, and having contour pointD continue or connect to contour point C. Thus, a single extendedregularity now replaces stroke areas 1010 and 1050. Similarly, strokearea 1020 is connected to stroke area 1040 and contour point A isconnected with D and contour point B is connected with C.

As contour anchor points are now created at all appropriate locationsand interpretation of each singular region is accomplished, the regularregions now delineated may be processed further. Specifically, a morerobust description of the region is computed by interrelating the pairsof contours that enclose associated regular regions (i.e., strokes orcolumns). This processing step produces the final stroke representationneeded for embroidery satin stitch data point generation.

Contour points on opposite sides of a skeletal branch are connected viavectors considered to be orthogonal or normal to the stroke at thosepoints. Stoke normals are created using the method outlined hereinbelow.

Now referring to FIG. 11, a portion of a thin object to be sewn withsatin stitch is shown. Thin object 1100 comprises a plurality of edgenormals 1102, a plurality of edge contour segments 1104, a plurality ofstart/end stroke segments 1106, a plurality of stroke segmentsindicating a stroke-angle 1108 and a plurality of non-sensitive strokediagrams 1110.

Edge normals 1102 are computed at consecutive contour points betweenassociated anchor points. These normals face inwardly toward theskeletal branch.

A stroke normal is then defined as a start stroke segment (i.e. thesegment between the left and right anchor points at the skeletal nodefrom which the branch originates). The angle of this segment, known asthe stroke angle, is computed.

The next edge point that lies closest to the previous stoke normal isthen found by traversing the left and right contours of the stroke. Thecontour point is then connected to an opposite edge contour point. Thecoding mechanism calculates for a least squares minimum between theangle of this newly crated stroke segment and the corresponding contournormals it connects. Included in this least squares computation is alsoa measurement of the stroke normal's length proportional to the averagecolumn width at that point. The result is that a stroke normal ofminimal length connects two edge points at which the gradient isapproximately equal but opposite.

Interpolation is incorporated in this process to allow points betweencontour vertices to be mapped or connected to opposite side contourvertices. The mechanism continues to find the next edge point andconnect the contour point until the ending set of left and right anchorpoints is encountered.

During the above procedure, it is possible that certain contour verticesmay be skipped over during the matching process. To handle this case,placeholders are inserted for the skipped vertices. These vertices arematched at a later time. The stroke normals created at these points mustlie within the bounds of the stroke normals already created before andafter them.

Referring again to FIG. 4, once the coding mechanism executes, theembroidery data generating mechanism executes the column smoothingmechanism, in step 430. The column smoothing mechanism customizes theregion description to embroidery data point generation. This step is asmoothing operation in that it attempts to remove discontinuity amongconsecutive stroke normals, making the transition from one stroke to thenext more “smooth”.

Column smoothing is performed iteratively by examining three consecutivestroke normals at a time. If the center points of the three normals fallwithin a straight line (within a small variation proportional to thecolumn's thickness), the second column normal in the set is examined.

If the first and third normals imply a trend that is not exhibited bythe second column normal, the angle of this middle normal is adjustedand an additional normal is added if this results in an orphaned contourpoint.

Additionally, the first and last column normal of an entire column arealways examined. The length of these normals is recorded. Subsequentadjacent normals that are within this length are adjusted to ensure asmooth transition at the endpoints of a column.

This processing is most needed when generating columns which begin orend with serifs. With more continuity between stroke normals, smallerinterpolations are required during stitch generation, which also usuallyleads to better performance on the associated sewing equipment.

Hence, while the previously discussed processing is not a strictrequirement for embroidery data point generation, it inevitably leads tomore improved embroidered designs.

One other operation performed by the column smoothing mechanism is thedetection of sharp or high discontinuity in a sequence of columnnormals. This situation typically arises when a column or stroke-likeregion bends sharply. An example of this would be the uppercase letter“N”. In this example, there are two locations where lines meet at anangle of less the 45 degrees. Stitching continuously around such areasof sharpness may produce unfavorable results. This is usually due toexcessive interpolation of associated stitching causing a sparseness onone side of the column and a bunching or overstitching on the oppositeside. To remove this problem, the column smoothing mechanism breaks thecolumn into two separately sewable regions that meet at the area ofsharpness. Thus, in the example of the uppercase letter “N”, thediagonal line region would be extended on either end and made into asingle column of satin stitches. Subsequently, the two vertical lineswould be shortened slightly at the area where they meet the diagonal andwould then also be sewn as independent columns of satin stitch.

When the column smoothing mechanism is finished executing, theembroidery data generating mechanism executes the path generationmechanism, step 432. The path generation mechanism generates satinstitch embroidery control points that correspond to the end points ofeach stroke normal.

However, there still exists the important issue of how the strokesshould be ordered or traversed during the control point generationprocess. This problem is similar to the issue of how fill regionfragments should be ordered and sewn when generating fill stitchobjects. Optimization criteria include minimizing thread cuts andmaintaining stroke continuity. Specifically, several path planningalgorithms are executed which generate a set of possible paths (i.e.stroke or column orderings) that may be used to generate an appropriatesequence of embroidery control points such that all columns of a thinobject are specified or sewn. At least one of these paths is guaranteedto generate embroidery data for the thin object without requiring anythread cuts. The specific mechanism used to generate such a path may bespecified as a recursive algorithm.

This algorithm is provided, as input, a start or entry node within thethin object and then proceeds to traverse (by generating run stitchcontrol points) skeletal branches and nodes emanating from this noderecursively until all branches and nodes have been visited. As eachrecursive call completes, the satin stitch control points, for thecolumn associated with the particular skeletal branch being traversed,are output. A recursive call completes (at a given node for a givenbranch) only when all other branches connected at that node have beentraversed (i.e. marked) via other recursive calls. Special cases, suchas loops, are uniquely handles such that they are sewn continuously. Forexample, one would traverse a cursive lower case “l” as a single strokerather than an upside down v stroke with a second connected oval strokeon its top.

In certain situations, avoiding thread cuts (i.e. never allowing theneedle to be lifted and relocated) may cause columns within a thinobject to be sewn with less continuity. For example, the sewing of asingle long column or stroke may be interrupted at various points to sewother columns that connect to the column at those points. Interruptingthe sewing of a continuous column in this way may introduce phenomenonsuch as material buckling or movement depending on the magnitude of theinterruption. The approach presented here measures this magnitude as thecombined length of other columns that are sewn before sewing returns orcontinues along the initial long column. If a sufficiently largemagnitude interruption is detected, the path planning mechanism attemptsto generate a new different path around the associated columns such thatthe magnitude is reduced. The computational efficiency of this techniquemay degrade to the point of computing all possible paths for a thinobject. Eventually, the path chosen is the one where the combinedmagnitude of interruptions is minimal.

Once path generation mechanism generates the control points, theembroidery data generating mechanism executes the embroidery outputmechanism, step 420. It should be understood that all objects within theembroidery data are processed until mark points for each object aregenerated. Once the embroidery output file is generated, any sewingdevice can use the information contained within the file to stitch theembroidery design.

Since other modifications and changes varied to fit particular operatingrequirements and environments will be apparent to those skilled in theart, the invention is not considered limited to the example chosen forpurposes of disclosure, and covers all changes and modifications whichdo not constitute departures from the true spirit and scope of thisinvention.

Having thus described the invention, what is desired to be protected byLetters Patent is presented in the subsequently appended claims.

1. A method of generating embroidery data from image data, comprising:identifying an object from the image data, wherein the objectcorresponds to a contiguous portion of an image defined by the imagedata; determining a plurality of possible stitch angles for the object;determining respective numbers of fragments required to stitch theobject for each of the possible stitch angles; selecting a stitch anglefrom the plurality of possible stitch angles, wherein the selectedstitch angle is to result in a least number of fragments to stitch theobject; and generating the embroidery data based on the selected stitchangle.
 2. A method as defined in claim 1, further comprising classifyingthe object as a thick object.
 3. A method as defined in claim 1, whereindetermining the respective numbers of fragments comprises determining anumber of sub-regions of the object that may be continuously stitched ata respective one of the stitch angles, wherein the sub-regions areseparate continuously stitched portions of the object.
 4. A method asdefined in claim 1, wherein the plurality of possible stitch anglescorrespond to a plurality of scan angles of the image data.
 5. A methodas defined in claim 1, further comprising determining at least one entrypoint or exit point to one or more of the fragments.
 6. A method asdefined in claim 5, further comprising determining a contour of theobject, wherein the at least one entry point or the at least one exitpoint are located along the contour.
 7. A method as defined in claim 5,further comprising determining a mid-line of one of the fragments,wherein the embroidery data is based on the at least one entry point andthe mid-line.
 8. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the embroiderydata comprises at least one of a running stitch or a thread cut from anexit point associated with a first one of the fragments to an entrypoint associated with a second one of the fragments.
 9. A system forgenerating embroidery data from image data, comprising: a memory; and aprocessor coupled to the memory and programmed to: identify an objectfrom the image data, wherein the object corresponds to a contiguousportion of an image defined by the image data; determine a plurality ofpossible stitch angles for the object; determine respective numbers offragments required to stitch the object for each of the possible stitchangles; select a stitch angle from the plurality of possible stitchangles, wherein the selected stitch angle is to result in a least numberof fragments to stitch the object; and generate the embroidery databased on the selected stitch angle.
 10. A system as defined in claim 9,wherein the processor is programmed to classify the object as a thickobject.
 11. A system as defined in claim 9, wherein determining therespective numbers of fragments comprises determining a number ofsub-regions of the object that may be continuously stitched at arespective one of the stitch angles, wherein the sub-regions areseparate continuously stitched portions of the object.
 12. A system asdefined in claim 11, wherein the sub-regions are separated by a threadcut or running stitches.
 13. A system as defined in claim 9, wherein theplurality of possible stitch angles correspond to a plurality of scanangles of the image data.
 14. A system as defined in claim 9, whereinthe processor is programmed to determine at least one entry point orexit point to one or more of the fragments.
 15. A system as defined inclaim 14, wherein the processor is programmed to determine a contour ofthe object, wherein the at least one entry point or the at least oneexit point are located along the contour.
 16. A system as defined inclaim 14, wherein the processor is programmed to determine a mid-line ofone of the fragments, wherein the embroidery data is based on the atleast one entry point and the mid-line.
 17. A system as defined in claim9, wherein the embroidery data comprises at least one of a runningstitch or a thread cut from an exit point associated with a first one ofthe fragments to an entry point associated with a second one of thefragments.
 18. A tangible machine readable medium having instructionsstored thereon that, when executed, cause a machine to: identify anobject from the image data, wherein the object corresponds to acontiguous portion of an image defined by the image data; determine aplurality of possible stitch angles for the object; determine respectivenumbers of fragments required to stitch the object for each of thepossible stitch angles; select a stitch angle from the plurality ofpossible stitch angles, wherein the selected stitch angle is to resultin a least number of fragments to stitch the object; and generate theembroidery data based on the selected stitch angle.
 19. A machinereadable medium as defined in claim 18 having instructions storedthereon that, when executed, cause the machine to classify the object asa thick object.
 20. A machine readable medium as defined in claim 18,wherein determining the respective numbers of fragments comprisesdetermining a number of sub-regions of the object that may becontinuously stitched at a respective one of the stitch angles, whereinthe sub-regions are separate continuously stitched portions of theobject.
 21. A machine readable medium as defined in claim 20, whereinthe sub-regions are separated by a thread cut or running stitches.
 22. Amachine readable medium as defined in claim 18, wherein the plurality ofpossible stitch angles correspond to a plurality of scan angles of theimage data.
 23. A machine readable medium as defined in claim 18 havinginstructions stored thereon that, when executed, cause the machine todetermine at least one entry point or exit point to one or more of thefragments.
 24. A machine readable medium as defined in claim 23 havinginstructions stored thereon that, when executed, cause the machine todetermine a contour of the object, wherein the at least one entry pointor the at least one exit point are located along the contour.
 25. Amachine readable medium as defined in claim 23 having instructionsstored thereon that, when executed, cause the machine to determine amid-line of one of the fragments, wherein the embroidery data is basedon the at least one entry point and the mid-line.
 26. A machine readablemedium as defined in claim 18, wherein the embroidery data comprises atleast one of a running stitch or a thread cut from an exit pointassociated with a first one of the fragments to an entry pointassociated with a second one of the fragments.